Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Time for a new Axe??

Yeah... So I have been playing for about 17 or 18 years now and this HM Strat was the first "real" guitar I ever bought. It has been to hell and back, but I still love it. Love it enough that I sold every other guitar I bought during all my years of playing, but keep this one.

Anyway, so last weekend I woke up and decided to start playing again. Not sure why, just wanted to run a few scales, hit a few riffs...so I did. Next thing I know, I had played for almost 10 hrs!! Since then, I have been playing at least an hour every morning and three or four every night. And last night, while playing, I dropped it. Of all the nights I have dropped this thing, last night was the night the paint decided to break loss! Hince the nice chunk out of the back. Everyone else in the house was like... , but I was just, "It's no big deal!" I picked it up, retuned it and started jamming again.

So, is it time to replace this accent piece of wood? Nawgh!! But I will be surfing the local pawn shops for another Jackson Soloist or even a Dinky, but nothing will take the place of this baby.

if u have been playing that long, you deserve something newer i think.

u should buy my h-s-s (tex-mex) floyd rose strat, u can have it real cheap i NEVER use it and it is in almost brand new condition w/ ossc

-a

I bought my first "real" guitar almost exactly 10 years ago. I was still working a minimum wage job, so I had to save my paychecks for the better part of a year to be able to pay for it. It is a complete custom, but pretty similar to a certain series played by the guy my handle comes from. Since Gibson sued ESP several years ago these can't be purchased unless you order from and travel to ESP's Japan office.

so what kinda music are you and your band going to be playin' Phil?
....You know I'm up for a good Country Concert, Hell before you become rich and famous, let me be the first to become your #2 fan.....I'd be #1 but I don't feel like a whoopin' from Kim

Wow, What's with the 80's guitars? Don't any of you have a gibson or Fender? If you get a new guitar, make sure you don't get one that can be called an AXE. That means you should not be able to impale people with the cutaways.

Nice guitars. I play drums but I have a Tacoma RM-6

Hey pretty baby are you ready for me
It's your good rockin' daddy down from Tennessee
I'm just out of Austin bound for San Antone
With the radio blastin' and the bird dog on
There's a speed trap up ahead in Selma Town
But no local yokel gonna shut me down
'Cause me and my boys got this rig unwound
And we've come a thousand miles from a Guitar Town

Nothin' ever happened 'round my hometown
And I ain't the kind to just hang around
But I heard someone callin' my name one day
And I followed that voice down the lost highway
Everybody told me you can't get far
On thirty-seven dollars and a jap guitar
Now I'm smokin' into Texas with the hammer down
And a rockin' little combo from the Guitar Town

Hey pretty baby don't you know it ain't my fault
I love to hear the steel belts hummin' on the asphalt
Wake up in the middle of the night in a truck stop
Stumble in the restaurant wonderin' why I don't stop

Gotta keep rockin' why I still can
I gotta two pack habit and a motel tan
But when my boots hit the boards I'm a brand new man
With my back to the riser I make my stand
And hey pretty baby won't you hold me tight
We're loadin' up and rollin' out of here tonight
One of these days I'm gonna settle down
And take you back with me to the Guitar Town

Sounds like you have a case of G.A.S. or Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. It's just like car mods/parts in that once you start buying stuff you can't stop. In hindsight I kinda wish I had the $ from some of the guitars I've owned in the past, but sometimes being the first one on the block to have something is fun. Then there are those that I've sold that I wish I didn't: definitely kicking myself for selling my first-run SRV sig Strat (very early serial number and sounded HUGE). And those that I passed on for one reason or another: pre-automated custom PRS's: one flamed redwood & the other flamed cedar. Boy am I kicking my butt on those, but this was back when they were still relatively unknown in the early 90's. Granted now I have a nice Custom Shop Strat that I'm way more than happy with so I don't really need anything else....but of course I'm always looking...and I mean always.

So, with your guitar if you're happy with it and it fits you & your playing style just right then why change anything? Just get a competent guitar tech to give it a really good setup and play away. Although if you like the way it plays, but would like to upgrade the tone a bit and have the $ to spend then maybe some good pickups would fit the bill. A Duncan JB in the bridge and maybe some Hot Rails in the neck & mid positions would work pretty darn good & really transform the sound. Plus if you do ever buy another guitar you can always just transfer the pickups over to the new one. Just my $.02

Oh, and here's some pics of my Custom Shop Strat & Ovation Custom Legend for what it's worth. The Strat came loaded with Texas Special pickups (same that came in the SRV Strat), has a StarSwitch (it's a digital switching system and you can chose tons of different pickup combos, but I'll be switching back to the stock one very soon), and the finish is called "Aurora Glow" or something like that:

http://community.webshots.com/album/415731415LtJLOs